tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post7740921977876651137..comments2023-10-31T03:18:26.963-07:00Comments on Great Guys Weblog: How Many Ethnicities Are There?Brethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15063508651955739056noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-74287886275738510422014-07-26T15:35:52.321-07:002014-07-26T15:35:52.321-07:00'For example, can you remember seeing a news a...'For example, can you remember seeing a news article about even one of the "260 [poor] schoolchildren who were killed in Chicago over a recent three-year period?" '<br /><br />The cry of the man who doesn't read newspapers. Of course I can. <br /><br />While it is true that most single child murders are treated as local news, at least one was treated as national news for weeks, because it reached into the White House.<br /><br />Furthermore, big city papers have done long, multipart reports into the child murder issue, repeatedly, and for decades. <br /><br />It would be more accurate to say that the news editors respond to multiple-death stories, just as they do not report the bedroom fire that kills one person as anything but local news but cover nationally the apartment fire that kills 3. Or the school bus crash that doesn't kill anyone.<br /><br />These 'rules' of news are traditional and may not be easy to justify by logical argument, but poor/not poor is a minor part of the decision, and usually not part at all.<br /><br />As for foreign deaths, I recall a lot of attention paid to Serbia-Croatia, full of poor people. It would be accurate to say that directors of national policy are usually reluctant to commit resources unless resources are at stake. But when they do commit, reports follow.<br /><br />I have followed the Congo warfare in my newspapers for years now.<br /><br />Harry Eagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196202758858876402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-7519695378703325202014-07-15T11:54:08.421-07:002014-07-15T11:54:08.421-07:00I don't know if I understand your question, Br...I don't know if I understand your question, Bret.<br /><br />There are a lot of people who do not care at all, be it poor or rich people dying.<br /><br />But among those who care a bit, the feeling of being able to influence things do play a greater role, in my (humble) opinion, than your other hypotheses.<br />My reasoning is truly basic: we instinctively give more thoughts to things we can change than things we can not.Clovishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08921327103613284595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-91395050434907668612014-07-15T10:53:05.940-07:002014-07-15T10:53:05.940-07:00Clovis wrote: "IMHO you missed the main diffe...Clovis wrote: "<i>IMHO you missed the main differentiation among those cases: the general sense (by the public) of possible control to influence the situation.</i>"<br /><br />You're certainly entitled to your (humble) opinion, but then let me ask you this: how would it look different if it was just that people didn't much care?Brethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15063508651955739056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-73802703571290165102014-07-15T07:32:17.722-07:002014-07-15T07:32:17.722-07:00AOG,
I don't know what you are reading betwee...AOG,<br /><br />I don't know what you are reading between my lines that I do not get, but your comment above reflects only your own opinion.<br /><br />My comment was based only on perceptions of the possibility to influence others. People expect more from Israelis because they believe to be able to influence them more. If I do have no influence over other people (be it Syria or Palestine), does it make me racist? What a strange concept you have of racism...<br />Clovishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08921327103613284595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-67465656870349804582014-07-14T20:44:40.767-07:002014-07-14T20:44:40.767-07:00Clovis;
Isn't your explanation of the differe...Clovis;<br /><br />Isn't your explanation of the differential treatment of Israelies and Palestinians a rather brutal indictment of rampant racism of such people? In essence it is equivalent of "we can't expect Palestinians to act like people".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-1522019807238573872014-07-14T15:53:45.425-07:002014-07-14T15:53:45.425-07:00Higher expectations that Israel should sit still w...Higher expectations that Israel should sit still while their citizens, many of whom are children, are wantonly slaughtered? They've been there and done that. IMO they would have taken care of the problems in the ME quite handily decades ago if they weren't muzzled by the U.S. All Israel's restraint has done is allowed anti-Semitism to rear its ugly head this time with a whole new generation of rabid haters.<br /><br />Kudos to Hollande who stood up for what's right.erphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09826044412670324694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5806884.post-50391747924524610912014-07-14T12:18:43.325-07:002014-07-14T12:18:43.325-07:00I think Rwuanda 1994 makes for a better and more b...I think Rwuanda 1994 makes for a better and more brutal example than Congo, but it makes no difference for your rules.<br /><br />By focusing on poor/non-poor, or death toll, IMHO you missed the main differentiation among those cases: the general sense (by the public) of possible control to influence the situation.<br /><br />The poor-on-poor killings in the African case, or Syria, are generally beyond the control of our opinion and actions.<br /><br />Likewise, the poor-on-poor Chicago kids killings is seen as a general problem of urban violence beyond our control.<br /><br />Now, due to Israel history (being instituted under the arms of the U.N.), and its partial dependence on the USA, many get the illusion that, if pressured enough, Israel could be influenced to exercize restraint. <br /><br />So instead of interpreting the outrage as unfair or biased, you could consider it as expressing the higher expectations many have from Israel. The day people start seeing Israel as not that different from Syria, much of the outrage will fade away, but I feel Israelis would regret that far more.<br /><br />Clovishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08921327103613284595noreply@blogger.com